Philip lange



(No Model.)

P. LANCE.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

No. 366,407. Patented July 12, 1887.

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PHILIP LANGE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JR, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC SW'ITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,407, dated July 12, 1887.

Application filed December 2,1886. Serial No. 220,443.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PHILIP Lanen, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing in Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches, of which the following'is a specification.

The invention relates to apparatus employed for altering or controlling the connections of an electric circuit.

The object of the invention is to provide a switch whereby the connections may be made and interrupted by a sudden and very considerable movement of the circuit-closing arm, thereby preventing the formation of an electric arc across the contact-points when the circuit is broken.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are elevations, partly in section, of a device embodying the features of the invention. Fig. 3 is aplan view of the same.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a suitable inclosing case. \Vithin this case there is placed a cylindrical boX, B, containing the circuit-controlling mechanism. A shaft, 0, carrying an operating-handle, G, extends through the case and into the box B. This shaft carries a metal cross-bar, D, the opposite ends of which rest upon twqinclined or cam-shaped surfaces, E and E The cross bar is vertically movable along a square portion of the shaft 0. The cams E and E rise gradually from the base E and terminate at their upper ends in vertical shoulders e 6. Then the cross-bar D is turned by the bandle C, it is pressed upward gradually by the camsurfaces against the force of a spring, F, surrounding the shaft, until it reaches the vertical shoulders e a, whereupon it escapes and is forced downward suddenly by the recoil of said spring. One of the arms of the cross-bar D carries a finger or pin, G, which, when the cross-bar is driven downward, strikes one end or the other, H or H of a tilting lever, H. This lever carries a circuit-closing arm, K, which is caused to enter between two contactsprings, K and K when the pin G strikes the end H of the lever H. This will occur at the time when the end ofthe arm D,

(No model.)

carrying the pin G, falls over the vertical shoulder 6 By turning the handle 0 half around in the same direction, the pin G will again be gradually raised, and by falling suddenly over the shoulder c, it will strike the end H of the lever H and tilt the same in the opposite direction, thereby suddenly separating the arm K from the springs K and K For the purpose of holding the lever H in one or the other of its alternate positions until it is forcibly removed therefrom, the contactsprings K and K may, with advantage, be curved toward each other, as indicated in the drawings, and these, by virtue of their resiliency, will thus grasp the arm K on opposite sides and hold it until forcibly removed therefrom. A curved flat spring, M, bearing against the other end of the arm H, serves to hold the lever with the arm K away from the contact-springs.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The combination, substantially as described, of a rotating cross-bar, two cams bearing against the opposite arms of the same, a tilting lever, a spring tending to force said cross-arm toward said lever, a contact device carried by said lever, and contact-springs between which said arm is made to pass.

2. The combination of a rotating shaft, an arm carried thereby, a detached circuitcontrolling lever actuated by said arm, and

an independent stationary cam, against which said arm bears and from which it is suddenly released when said shaft is in a predetermined angular position.

8. A circuit-controlling device consisting of a rotating-shaft, a cross-bar free to move longitudinally along said shaft, one or more cams terminating in vertical faces, a circuit-controlling lever, and electrical contacts applied to said lever.

4. The combination of the shaft 0, the cross-bar D, longitudinally movable along said shaft, the spring F, the double cam E E, the

tilting lever H, the pin G, carried by the cross-bar D and impinging upon one end or the other of the lever, according to the angular position of the shaft 0, and the electrical contacts controlled thereby.

5. In an electric switch or circuit-closer, the

i combination, with a lever or circuit-closing In testimony whereof I have hereunto subarm, of a revolving cross-bar tilting the same, scribed my name this 4th day of November, 10 one or more cams for holding said arm away A. D. 1886. from said lever except when the arm is in 5 one or the other of two predetermined angu- PHILIP LANGE' Jar positions, and means for thereupon forc- WVitnesses: ing the arm against one end or the other of CHARLES A. TERRY, said lever, substantially as set forth. J. G. BAOKOFEN. 

